Very much in the spirit of the Bentley Boys.
In the 1920s, the Bentley motor company did not enjoy the sort of success that it does now. By 1925, the Bentley motor company had begun to flounder, but was ultimately kept alive by a man named Woolf Bernato, an heir to a diamond fortune and an avid Bentley Boy.
The Bentley Boys were most active during that period, when Bernato and his pals would regularly participate in racing events around Europe, keeping the strong racing pedigree that the Bentley brand prides itself in alive. Supercharged ‘Blower’ Bentleys brought back no less than four consecutive wins at Le Mans from 1927, and were complemented (snarkily) by competitors Bugatti for their reliability and durability, with Ettore Bugatti himself calling them “the worlds’ fastest lorries.”
And while we’d love to drown in black-and-white footage of Blower Bentleys whining around tracks at unbelievable speeds, Bentley has today drawn our attention to a new limited-edition variant of its popular limousine, the Flying Spur V8 S Black Edition.
While the name (and the sinister paint job) does give away a lot of what the Black Edition is about, it’s more than just a few aesthetic tweaks. Under the bonnet, the 4.0-litre turbo-V8 engine (the best engine Bentley has at the moment, in our opinion) has been massaged to produce no less than 388kW of power and 680Nm of torque, sending power to all four wheels via an intelligent all-wheel drive system.
If the sonorous V8 soundtrack doesn’t give it away, the Flying Spur Black Edition wears a sinister suit, with the head- and taillights getting a smoked treatment with their bezels finished in black, while the grille, window trim, headlight washers and door-handle inserts also get finished in a high-gloss black hue. Further enhancing the Black Edition’s menacing look are the standard 21” 7-spoke alloy wheels, housing within them either black or red brake callipers, depending on what the sir desires.
The interior hasn’t been spared the Black Edition treatment either. The “unique” interior is wrapped almost entirely in black hide, featuring contrasting red segment ‘framing’ the centre panels of the four outer seats, running up and around the headrests. That same red hue is used for the contrast stitching, as well as the headliner bow that runs through the centre of the roof. Piano black wood veneer is used liberally here, and the treatment is finished off with the three-spoke Sport Plus steering wheel to emphasise the Black Edition’s performance orientation. Naturally, if it’s not your taste, Bentley is happy to customise it to however you wish.
If this isn’t enough for you, there is (among the multitude of options) the Mulliner Driving Specification, which will see the leather seats and door panels given a quilted treatment, with even more contrast stitching to help it stand out. As for the exterior, Mulliner spec gives you the option of two differently-designed 21” wheels to fill the arches, finished in either gloss-black or “dark tint.”
It’s all rather good, yes?
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